Each year, the U.S. can nominate one site to the United Nations’ list of culturally and naturally significant sites around the world. This year, it is nominating the Okefenokee Swamp.
The Okefenokee in South Georgia, just creeping into north Florida, is the largest blackwater swamp in North America. Environmentalists herald it for its diversity of plant and animal species, its dark sky views and its ability to capture carbon from the atmosphere in its thick, rich peat.
“As one of the world’s largest intact freshwater ecosystems, it’s critical to both science and conservation,” Shannon Estenoz, assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks at the U.S. Department of the Interior, said in a statement.
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